|
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Premium Wine takes the prize in Philly Park's $250K Gallant Bob H. by Rab Hagin
Now three-for-three since returning from a late spring/early summer layoff in July, Zayat Stables' New York-bred PREMIUM WINE confirmed that his recent emergence is no temporary phase in Philadelphia Park's $250,000 Gallant Bob Handicap for three-year-olds going six furlongs on Saturday, rallying from last-to-first among seven. The talented Prime Timber colt was the 4.80-to-1 third choice while being race-ridden for the first time by jockey Harry Vega and was regarded somewhat less enthusiastically than 2007 three-time sprint stakes winners Cherokee Country and Double Action -- the first and second choices, respectively. The Gallant Bob -- won last year by future 2007 Grade 2-winning sprinter Diabolical -- was Premium Wine's first stakes outing, first effort against open company, and first start outside New York, and he overcame a top-of-the-stretch bumping to make a strong statement of class. Previously a close stalker or front-runner, Premium Wine in the Gallant Bob adopted a new tactic, dropping back to last in the opening quarter as 2.40-to-1 Double Action -- a three-time California stakes winner this year -- set the first of three fractions clocking 22.22, 45.18, and 57.41. The New York-bred led only one rival at the quarter pole as Vega eased him outside to find running room and then bumped with 8.70-to-1 fifth choice Jacob's Run before finding a seam through a wall of front-end contenders to overtake Double Action in the final furlong. Scoring by a half-length over Double Action, Premium Wine clocked a winning time of 1:09.93, improving his record to four wins and two seconds in six starts while increasing his earnings by $150,000 to $258,600.
Trained by Anthony Dutrow, who had given him three five-furlong workouts at Aqueduct during September 9-24 following a 4-3/4-length romp in a 6-1/2-furlong N2X allowance/optional claiming contest for state-breds at Saratoga on August 24, Premium Wine has improved steadily and sometimes dramatically since debuting at Aqueduct in March. Zayat Stables, LLC of Egyptian/American beverage entrepreneur Ahmed Zayat of Hackensack, New Jersey had purchased the colt for $75,000 at the Ocala Breeders' Sales (OBS) Company's 2006 March sale of two-year-olds, where Zayat also had bought future New York Thoroughbred Breeders (NYTB) 2006 Champion Juvenile Filly Chief Officer for $230,000. In the first four days of the recently-concluded Keeneland September yearling sale, Zayat Stables paid $300,000 for a New York-bred filly and $250,000 for a New York-bred colt. Premium Wine is the second New York-bred open stakes winner that NYTB 2005-2006 Breeder of the Year Sez Who Thoroughbreds (Richard Simon of Aventura, Florida) has bred from stakes-placed juvenile winner Just a Bullet, being a half-brother to Grade 2-winning filly Magnolia Jackson ($536,598). Simon's New Dawn Stud had purchased Just a Bullet, who is inbred 3 x 4 to Turn-to (who is himself inbred 3 x 3 to Pharos), for $20,000 at Keeneland's 2000 November sale when the mare was carrying her first of four winners. Just a Bullet is a full sister to Grade 2-placed winner American Bullet and a half-sister to multiple stakes-placed winner Pro Tank Plus -- both six-figure-earners. Premium Wine is the third stakes winner from the first three crops of New York-based Prime Timber and the 17th New York-bred winner of a stakes outside state-bred company in 2007. The Gallant Bob was the 22nd open (to horses bred anywhere, exclusive of the New York Stallion Stakes series) stakes event of 2007 captured by a New York-bred -- in New York, California, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, Louisiana, Italy, and now Pennsylvania. |
||||||
|
Factual Contender flies home in Belmont's one-mile Dynamic Lisa (1:33.39) by Rab Hagin
Thomas Farone Jr.'s FACTUAL CONTENDER continues to confound the labelers. Floundering in dirt sprints a year ago and unable even to hit the board in restricted N1X allowance competition, she is now a three-time turf stakes winner of $406,248 and appears to be improving monthly under the guidance of NYTB 2003 Trainer of the Year Barclay Tagg. Going into Belmont's $78,250 Dynamic Lisa Stakes for New York-bred fillies and mares at a virtual one-turn turf mile on Saturday (her first one-turn effort since finishing last among nine at six furlongs on Belmont's main track 11 months earlier), she seemed to be a front-running grass router. In the Dynamic Lisa, the six-year-old mare rallied from seventh among nine with a quarter-mile to go, clocking a graded stakes-type 1:33.39 for her third turf stakes victory in four outings since early May -- all under NYTB 2006 Jockey of the Year Eibar Coa. Factual Contender accomplished her seventh-to-first final quarter despite the fact that the fourth quarter-mile split was 23.23 seconds. It was jockey Coa's second winning ride of the day. Favored at 2.10-to-1 among nine in the Dynamic Lisa -- named for Herbert and Carol Schwartz's homebred winner of a division of Saratoga's 2003 Yaddo Handicap -- Factual Contender improved her record to 9 - 9 - 3 in 34 starts -- with a turf resume of four wins and two seconds in seven starts. The dark bay mare has earned $219,699 of her $406,248 career bankroll since being haltered 25 months earlier for $65,000 from her breeder, Carl Lizza Jr.'s Flying Zee Stables, at Saratoga. Following Factual Contender's second-placing behind a more lightly-weighted Latitude Forty (sixth in the Dynamic Lisa) in Saratoga's August 18 Yaddo Handicap, trainer Tagg had given the Thunder Puddles mare five half-mile workouts over Belmont's main track spaced six-to-seven days apart from August 31 to September 25. Factual Contender was foaled at Highcliff Farm in Delanson that breeder Lizza owns in partnership with Joseph Bartone and where her 28-year-old pensioned sire, Thunder Puddles ($791,695), still resides. New York-bred Thunder Puddles was a multiple Grade 2-winning turf router and former leading New York-bred money-earner whose offspring include multiple graded-winning turf router Thunder Regent and New York-bred Travers Stakes winner Thunder Rumble (see New York-bred Millionaires Club). Factual Contender is among four starters, all winners, produced from Flying Zee Stables' New York homebred route winner Factuallychallenge, who is by the late New York-based stallion Triocala. The recently-discovered turf star's two named and younger half-sisters of racing age have both won in 2007 (at Aqueduct), and one also has scored on Belmont turf. |
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Ice Cool Kitty is cool on the lead in 3-1/4-length romp thru 7F Floral Park by Rab Hagin
Scoring her sixth big-margin NYRA win in seven starts since April, Lansdon Robbins III's and Kevin Callahan's ICE COOL KITTY romped by a front-running 3-1/4 lengths in Belmont's seven-furlong Floral Park Stakes for New York-bred fillies and mares on Thursday, capturing her third 2007 stakes victory at a different distance. Although the four-year-old filly was dropping back to a one-turn sprint after a stalking tally in Saratoga's nine-furlong Saratoga Dew Stakes, she was odds-on (.80-to-1) among eight and controlled the pace under jockey Michael Luzzi, whose two rides aboard her have produced front-running multiple-margin Belmont wins. New York Thoroughbred Breeders 2002 Trainer of the Year Richard Dutrow Jr. appears to be pointing the daughter of Tomorrows Cat towards Belmont's seven-furlong Iroquois Handicap for state-bred fillies and mares on New York Showcase Day (October 20) -- using Thursday's Floral Park for dress rehearsal. After an opening quarter-mile in 23.48, Ice Cool Kitty accelerated her second quarter to 22.75 but could not separate herself from four closely-pursuing rivals, the nearest of which was 20.80-to-1 sixth choice Stolen Star with blinkers on for the first time since last May. Her second split apparently took its tool, though, because following a third quarter in 23.69 (for a 1:09.92 six-furlong fraction), Ice Cool Kitty's margin over Stolen Star had grown from a head to three lengths, and no other rival challenged thereafter. Reaching the wire in 1:22.67, the Robbins-Callahan stand-bearer won handily over a surprisingly resolute Stolen Star, to whom she was conceding five pounds at 123-to-118, with 19.50-to-1 fifth choice Scatkey -- also carrying 118 -- a half-length back in third place. The event highlighted a distinct dominance of four-year-old fillies -- finishing first through fifth -- over three three-year-old competitors that came in sixth, seventh, and eighth (although all three sophomore fillies were conceding two actual pounds each to Stolen Star and Scatkey). Victory in the $77,000 Floral Park increased Ice Cool Kitty's earnings to $292,726 while improving her record to eight wins and one second in 13 starts, which includes two tallies at six furlongs, two at seven furlongs, three at one-turn miles, and one at a two-turn mile and an eighth. She has won twice each on Aqueduct's inner and outer main tracks, three times at Belmont, and once at Saratoga. Dutrow, who had two four-year-old filly winners on Belmont's Thursday card, had prepared Ice Cool Kitty for the Floral Park with four five-furlong workouts at Aqueduct spaced five-to-six days apart following the New York-bred's 3-1/2-length win in Saratoga's August 27 Saratoga Dew. Concluding that series of drills was a "bullet" blowout that Dutrow had given her five days prior to the Floral Park on September 22. Bred by William Garbarini of Westfield, New Jersey and a $65,000 purchase at Fasig-Tipton's 2004 Saratoga New York-bred preferred yearling sale after having been a $25,000 sales weanling, Ice Cool Kitty has been owned throughout her racing career by Robbins and Callahan. Her victory helped push the cumulative offspring bankroll for New York-based Tomorrows Cat -- a multi-million-dollar progeny earnings sire in 2004, 2005, and 2006 -- to almost $10.3-million from mostly five crops. Ice Cool Kitty is the first of two runners -- both winning and stakes-performing New York-bred fillies -- produced from two-time winner Icy Chris, being a half-sister to 2006 stakes-placed juvenile filly Icy City. Her dam, two-time juvenile winner Icy Chris, is a full sister to stakes winner Cold Snap and a half-sister to Grade 1-winning filly Plenty of Light ($510,420). |
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Who What Win gets 1st stakes victory with late move in Sherpa Guide by Rab Hagin
Showing the form he had flashed late last winter while dominating back-to-back open allowances on Aqueduct's inner track, Gatsas Thoroughbreds' homebred WHO WHAT WIN rallied on the outside to score his first stakes victory in Belmont's mile and a sixteenth Sherpa Guide Stakes for New York-breds on Wednesday. The four-year-old gelding was favored at 1.75-to-1 among six in the one-turn event for three-year-olds and up because he already had placed second twice and third once in previous stakes for state-breds over nine months and was facing none of the rivals he had trailed in those contests. For the third consecutive time in three months, Who What Win competed under the guidance of jockey Rafael Bejarano, who had two winning rides on Belmont's Wednesday card and appears to have figured out the stalking dark bay's running style. Breaking from the inside post, Who What Win drafted close behind the early front-runners, who were led by 3-to-1 third choice Raceland through even quarter-mile splits of 23.67 and 23.45 before the pace-setter decelerated to a 24.49 third quarter. Initially in fourth place, the Gatsas Stables' standard-bearer advanced to third between Raceland and 23.60-to-1 Morning Perks (recent shipper from a promising spring-summer stakes campaign in Puerto Rico) on the turn and was briefly second before looking like he was dropping out of contention. As Raceland and Morning Perks faded, Bejarano allowed his mount to fall back to fourth and then sent him up the outside after new leader Building New Era -- the 5.20-to-1 fourth choice and only Sherpa Guide starter that had beaten Who What Win this past summer. Who What Win appeared to want to stay on his left lead, looked like he was about to lug in through the stretch, and seemed to sulk when Bejarano got into him -- but he outran everyone to the wire, finishing a half-length ahead of 2.55-to-1 second choice French Transition. Building New Era, who had finished fourth in Belmont's July 22 Evan Shipman Handicap -- a mile and a sixteenth event in which Who What Win had stumbled at the start and come in fifth -- placed a head behind French Transition. Victory in the $76,500 Sherpa Guide -- named for Berkshire Stud's homebred three-length winner of Belmont's 2002 Evan Shipman Handicap -- increased Who What Win's earnings by $45,900 to $276,519 and improved his record to 6 - 8 - 1 in 19 starts. Bred and owned by the Gatsas Thoroughbreds LLC of brothers Michael and Theodore Gatsas of Manchester, New Hampshire -- founders of Sovereign Thoroughbreds (racing partnerships) and campaigners of now-retired New York-bred millionaire Gander (see New York-bred Millionaires Club) -- Who What Win had scored all of his previous wins at Aqueduct. In preparing the stretch-running New York-bred for his first stakes tally, trainer John Terranova II had given him a fairly sharp five-furlong Belmont workout five days earlier (September 21) -- and two weeks after the gelding's third-placing among six state-breds in Belmont's one-turn mile General Douglas MacArthur Handicap. Sired by the now Argentine-based Dance Brightly, Who What Win is the second offspring and second New York-bred winner that Gatsas Thoroughbreds has bred from two-time sprint winner Charms Way, whom Gatsas Thoroughbreds had purchased for $45,000 at Fasig-Tipton Florida's 1999 February sale of two-year-olds at Calder. Charms Way is by Salt Lake and is a half-sister to multiple graded-placed dirt and turf Canadian router Attest ($638,855). |
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
2yo favorites Big Truck and Expect the End hold off challenges to capture Bongard and Gimma by Rab Hagin
Favorites BIG TRUCK and EXPECT THE END both withstood strong challenges in Belmont's seven-furlong Bertram F. Bongard and Joseph A. Gimma Stakes for New York-bred juveniles on Sunday -- the latter for fillies -- registering the fastest times for those respective events since stakes records were set four and five years earlier. Both state-bred two-year-olds appear to be bred to stretch out to almost any required distance when the occasions arise. The Bongard represented the second win in two starts for Big Truck ($97,380), and the Gimma provided hard-fighting filly Expect the End with her third victory in four starts. Utilizing big, smooth strides and a professional, almost laid-back attitude that seemed atypical for a two-year-old, Eric Fein's Big Truck rambled to a two-length victory in Belmont's $104,300 Bongard, as sons of New York-based stallion Hook and Ladder ran one-two and finished significantly ahead of everyone else. The impressive-looking colt was 20 cents on the dollar among five Bongard starters because of his ease in winning first-out at Saratoga 31 days earlier and a subsequent comment by New York Thoroughbred Breeders (NYTB) 2003 Trainer of the Year Barclay Tagg: "He'll do anything." Breaking from the outside post, Big Truck closely stalked front-running 5.50-to-1 second choice Spanky Fischbein on the outside through even quarter-mile splits of 23.03 and 23.01, as the two Hook and Ladder colts -- foaled 34 days apart (Big Truck is the elder) -- entered the stretch heads apart. Spanky Fischbein, who was coming off consecutive runner-up stakes efforts at Monmouth Park in July and at Finger Lakes on Labor Day, still had his head in front at mid-stretch despite being slow to switch to his right lead, but the final furlong belonged to Big Truck. Edging ahead and then pulling away after jockey Ramon Dominguez had gotten into him, Fein's talented youngster reached the wire in 1:23.64 -- fastest Bongard since future Eclipse Champion Funny Cide had clocked a stakes record 1:22.95 (.69 of a second faster) five years earlier. It was two lengths back to Spanky Fischbein and four lengths from the runner-up back to third-place finisher Dazzling Derek. Winning jockey Dominguez, who had been on board for Big Truck's 6-1/2-length winning debut at Saratoga going 6-1/2 furlongs on August 23, seemed somewhat surprised that Spanky Fischbein had put up such a fight: "I really didn't know how the race was going to play out," confessed Dominguez. "I thought he (Big Truck) would win pretty easy. Having said that, it looked like the one-horse (Spanky Fischbein) really moved forward. My horse ran a good race; he galloped out good. Time was pretty fast, and I'm pleased with him. I think he'll do whatever you want with him." Trainer Tagg, who had saddled Funny Cide for that gelding's first stakes victory in the 2002 Bongard, obviously had expected easier pickings: "I'm not trying to be a smart-ass," Tagg had remarked to Daily Racing Form's David Grening prior to the Bongard, "but he (Big Truck) does things too effortlessly. His numbers (speed ratings) are a little slower than the other two nice two-year-olds I have, but I think he might end up being the best one. This guy's smooth as glass." After the Bongard, Tagg appreciated the win but anticipated stretching Big Truck out another furlong (to a one-turn mile) on New York Showcase Day: "I thought he had to work a little harder, but Todd (Pletcher, trainer of Spanky Fischbein) has good horses all the time, so you never know. I thought it would be a little bit easier than that. He got into gear a little sooner than I thought he would. I thought they would run away from him earlier; at least, he pulled this one off. We'll point him for the Sleepy Hollow (for New York-bred two-year-olds at Belmont on New York Showcase Day Saturday, October 20)." Purchased by owner Fein for $90,000 at Fasig-Tipton Midlantic's 2007 May sale of two-year-olds at Timonium, Maryland, Big Truck was bred by "A. Lakin & Sons" -- generally associated with Lewis Lakin, former partner in Lakland North (now Sequel Stallions New York) in Hudson and breeder/co-breeder of two Belmont Sunday winners. Big Truck is among six juvenile winners from the first crop of Hook and Ladder and is that stallion's first stakes winner and third top-three stakes performer -- following Spanky Fischbein and graded-placed I Promise. As a result of Big Truck's and Spanky Fischbein's one-two finish in the Bongard, the partnership that owns Hook and Ladder qualified for a total of $5,952.80 in stallion owner awards. Big Truck is the second offspring and second New York-bred stakes-performing winner produced from Just a Ginny, by New York-conceived Kentucky Derby winner Go for Gin, being a half-brother to recent (August 8 at Saratoga) New York Stallion Cab Calloway runner-up Logic Way. Dam Just a Ginny won twice in main track route contests and once on turf and is a half-sister to a Grade 2-placed winner.
Like Big Truck, proven stakes winner Expect the End was a strong favorite (though not odds-on, at 1.15-to-1 among seven) in the $108,500 Gimma, but she also was top-weighted under 122 pounds because of her victory in Saratoga's six-furlong Jena Jena Stakes for New York-bred two-year-old fillies 27 days earlier. Race-ridden for the first time by jockey Rafael Bejarano, the dark bay filly led gate-to-wire from the outside post but could never shake first-out winner Meriwether Jessica, a Freud filly who broke from the inside post and prompted opening quarters of 23.38 and 23.59. Expect the End prematurely switched to her right lead just past the midway point around Belmont's big turn and started drifting out as a result, appearing to give the more efficiently-running (and lighter-weighted) Meriwether Jessica an opportunity to seize command -- but she never yielded the lead. Running her final three-eighths faster than those same splits had gone in the Bongard under less weight, Expect the End relentlessly battled to the wire in 1:24.31 -- fastest Gimma in four years and within almost four-tenths of a second of multiple Grade 2 winner Capeside Lady's stakes record. Winning jockey Bejarano was impressed: "She's a very nice filly. The one-horse (Meriwether Jessica) stayed up there with her speed. I just tried to have my horse comfortable in the front. The horse gave me a lot of energy when she came to the quarter-pole. She exploded and ran through the whole stretch." Now with three wins -- two in stakes -- and a runner-up effort in Monmouth's Colleen Stakes in a total of four starts, Expect the End has earned $126,600 of her $138,380 bankroll since being claimed for $30,000 while winning her debut at Churchill Downs in May. The former $1,200 bargain purchase at the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's 2006 August yearling sale has had different jockeys in each of her four starts. Expect the End races for a partnership consisting of the IEAH (International Equine Acquisitions Holdings) Stables managed by Michael Iavarone, Sanford Goldfarb of Old Westbury, Michael Dubb of Jericho, and Irwin Goldfarb's Cast of Characters. She is conditioned by NYTB 2002 Trainer of the Year Richard Dutrow Jr., who after her August 27 Jena Jena victory had given the filly workouts over Saratoga's Oklahoma training track on September 13 and 19 -- the former a five-furlong "bullet" drill. Bred by the NYTB 2005-2006 Breeder of the Year, the Sez Who Thoroughbreds, Inc. in Stillwater that is owned by Richard Simon of Aventura, Florida, Expect the End is the second offspring and second winner produced from Expect Awhile, who is inbred 3 x 4 to Iron Ruler. Expect Awhile is a half-sister to Puerto Rican champion Formerly Diablo ($387,374) and to other multiple stakes winners Vilhelm ($330,229) and Urus (dam of stakes winner Adobe Gold). |
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Dave drives to win tight finish in Ashley T. Cole by Rab Hagin
Sent off the 3.50-to-1 second choice among 10 starters -- two of which he had finished behind while running fourth in Saratoga's mile and an eighth West Point Handicap for state-breds on turf five weeks earlier -- Dave was bumped at the start and dropped back to eighth through six furlongs. The expected early front-runner, 14.90-to-1 sixth choice Retribution, was overtaken on the second turn by 2-to-1 favorite Red Zipper, who led by two lengths at mid-stretch before faltering in the final furlong, as three-year-olds Al Basha and Spurred edged ahead of him on the outside. Closing widest of all was Dave, who trailed the two three-year-olds inside the sixteenth pole but got up in time to prevail in what was nearly a dead heat, with the final furlong going in 12.29 seconds and Dave covering that distance in probably less than 11.50. Winning jockey Alan Garcia, who previously had never ridden Dave in competition, had timed the bay gelding's closing stretch run perfectly, but he essentially gave the credit to winning trainer Barclay Tagg: "I tried to follow instructions," Garcia explained. "Barclay told me to keep him as close to the inside as possible and then move out. Once I got after him, he really started running. When we hit the wire, I thought I had it. Then, when I saw the replay, I wasn't sure." Tagg, the New York Thoroughbred Breeders 2003 Trainer of the Year who had given Dave two half-mile workouts at Belmont -- including a September 12 "bullet" drill -- following the gelding's fourth-place finish in Saratoga's August 12 West Point, was complimentary of Garcia: "Alan rode the horse perfectly," Tagg remarked. "I could see him cranking up with that big run on the outside. That was really, really close. It was a real nice weekend (Tagg had sent out the winners of Grade 2 and Grade 3 stakes at Belmont the day before). It's nice when things work out like this." Dave has raced under Tagg's care and for his current owners, the Saratoga Springs-based Partingglass Stable and The Three Colleens Stable of David Stack of Oak Ridge, New Jersey, since coming off a six-month layoff in the spring of 2006 (and winning Belmont's Kingston Handicap two starts after that layoff). He initially had raced for his late breeder, philanthropist and Saratoga Gaming and Raceway board chairman Joseph W. Gerrity Jr., before being purchased on behalf of his current owners by bloodstock agent Thomas J. Gallo. Partingglass (or Parting Glass, depending on the race chart) Stable also was the winning owner in the sixth race on Belmont's Sunday card, a turf allowance for state-bred fillies and mares won by semi-homebred Cute Cognac, who was the first winner on Sunday sent out by Tagg. Victory in the Cole -- named for the late New York State Racing Commission chairman and a founder of the New York Breeding and Racing Program -- increased Dave's earnings to $444,292 while improving his record to 6 - 10 - 3 in 33 starts, which includes a maiden win on Aqueduct's inner dirt. Dave is the third starter and third winner bred by Gerrity from indestructible (81 starts and 22 wins, three through nine) non-black-type stakes-placed Commadore's Gold ($133,210), being a half-brother to 12-time main track winner Cabin Boy ($121,571). Commadore's Gold is a half-sister to stakes winner Sir Stephenmichael ($133,250) and to Grade 1-placed winner Gold Spruce (granddam of stakes winner Reside) as well as to the dams of stakes winner The Great Tyler and Grade 2-placed Golden Man ($270,952 through 2006). |
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Mt. Majesty takes $50,000 Genesee Valley Breeders' Handicap by Matt Church
Hesa Stable's recently claimed MT. MAJESTY put Rises to Phoenix away in upper stretch and drew clear to take today's $50,000 Genesee Valley Breeders' Handicap by four lengths. Haltered two races back for a mere $12,000 by trainer Nirka Huertas for his new connections, Mt. Majesty was coming off a gutsy neck decision. That test was a $27,000 overnight Handicap going one mile and seventy yards. Since Nirka Huertas took over as trainer, Including today's score, Mt. Majesty has won three straight. Prior to that, the six year old gelding by Raffie's Majesty downed a field of $10,000 wide-open claimers going seven furlongs at Belmont Park on June 6 by a length and one-half. Today's contest at one mile and one-sixteenth was for three year olds and upward bred in the state of New York with Ferentino Farm and Charlton Baker's Brocco Valley carrying highweight of 123 pounds. Six rivals went to the gate with Mt. Majesty the choice at 3 to 2. Brocco Valley listed as the 1 to 2 morning line favorite by track odds maker Carl Anderson was sent off as the third choice at $3.20 to 1. Sent off as the second choice by the betting public was Oakwood Stable's Rises to Phoenix at $1.70 to 1. Rises to Phoenix finished third in his last a head behind Brocco Valley in second. That test was a $27,000 overnight handicap at one mile and one-sixteenth on August 27. Tiger Speech got the money in that race by just less than a length. Brocco Valley the speed of the this talented group was fractious just as the gates opened and then reared losing all chance. Large Popcorn dictated the opening quarter in 23.96. Mt. Majesty and Clery's Contender collared Large Popcorn with the half mile clocked in 47.73. Mt. Majesty and Clery's Contender were joined by Rises the Phoenix midway on the final turn with the three-quarters going in 1:12.50. Mt. Majesty gave Rises the Phoenix the slip and opened up a commanding four length lead with only a furlong to run. Pedro Rodriguez kept Mt. Majesty on his toes and the pair proved clearly best by four lengths. Rises the Phoenix finished second best by four lengths over Clery's Contender in third. Mt. Majesty covered the distance over a fast track in 1:46.36 and earned $30,000. Bred by Henry H. Prieger, Digby Barrios, David Lester and Lamra Vukovich, the six year old gedling by Raffie's Majesty out of Triunfante by Mr. Livermore now has 12 career wins out of 29 tries and $204,116 in money won. Also the good now runner qualified for $6,000 breeders' awards. |
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Mission Approved gets second open stakes win in 12 days in Princeton by Rab Hagin
For the second time in 12 days, Dr. William Coyro Jr.'s New York homebred MISSION APPROVED scored unchallenged on the lead in an open turf route stakes -- his latest victory coming in Meadowlands' Princeton Stakes for three-year-olds going a mile and three-eighths on turf on Friday evening. The bay colt was the 1.40-to-1 top-weighted favorite and only New York-bred among eight starters in the three-turn event while being race-ridden for the fifth consecutive time in 13 weeks by jockey Eibar Coa, and he had command of the contest from start to finish. Breaking from the inside post, Mission Approved opened up a two-length lead with a casual first quarter-mile in 24.90 over the "good" grass course, but no rival came up to challenge him, so Coa slowed the next quarter down to 26.32, and still there were no takers. Decelerating his third quarter to a cross-country-like 27.19, Mission Approved passed the midway point of the race with a comfortable two-length margin, after which 12.90-to-1 fourth choice Xela began narrowing the gap, but Coa started letting his New York-bred mount pick up the pace. A fourth quarter in 24.75 kept Xela at bay, a fifth quarter in 23.84 give Mission Approved a 2-1/2-length advantage, and a final furlong in 11.91 -- probably the fastest eighth-mile panel in the event -- put Dr. Coyro's homebred at the wire with a 2-1/4-length margin. The contest was never, ever close. Following Mission Approved's front-running victory at 34-to-1 in Belmont's graded Saranac Stakes going a mile and three-sixteenths on turf on September 2, winning conditioner and New York Thoroughbred Breeders two-time Trainer of the Year Gary Contessa had commented: "The farther he (Mission Approved) goes, the faster he gets." For the Princeton, that observation turned out to be prophetic. The Princeton tally increased Mission Approved's earnings to $201,332 while improving his record to 5 - 1 - 1 in nine starts, with his first two victories coming on dirt in his March 10 six-furlong debut on Aqueduct's inner track and a one-turn restricted allowance mile at Belmont on May 24. The colt was introduced to turf in his first outing under Coa on June 15 at Belmont and won by a length and three-quarters at a mile and an eighth, going through his restricted N2X allowance condition. Paddock schooling also has helped turn around the career of the apparently easily-ratable New York-bred, whom trainer Contessa has described in glowing terms: "He's a big, good-looking, big striding horse." Mission Approved was the first of two consecutive New York-bred winners on Meadowlands' Friday evening card, and he provided Coa with that jockey's first of two winning rides under Friday night lights at the East Rutherford, New Jersey racing facility. Bred and raced by Dr. Coyro of Grosse Points Park, Michigan, Mission Approved was consigned to Fasig-Tipton's 2005 Saratoga New York-bred yearling sale but did not meet his reserve when the bidding halted at $14,000. The son of English-based stallion With Approval is the third of four racing-age offspring, all New York-bred winners, produced from two-time dirt route winner Fortunate Find, whom Dr. Coyro had purchased for $27,000 as a two-year-old in training at the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's 1997 June sale of racing-age stock. For most of her racing career, Fortunate Find was trained by Contessa. Mission Approved's two-year-old full brother, Dr. Coyro's homebred Carry the Day, had broken his maiden by 2-1/2 lengths at Belmont in his second start and turf debut on July 13 as the only New York-bred among seven starters in a maiden special weight contest. Fortunate Find has a stakes-placed five-time turf-winning half-sister who earned $172,885, and her dam -- a daughter of the late, great, New York-based stallion Spectacular Bid -- is a half-sister to four-time Grade 1 turf winner and course record-setter El Senor ($1,769,215). Mission Approved is among 16 New York-bred winners of 2007 stakes events outside state-bred competition, and the Princeton was the 21st open (to horses bred anywhere, exclusive of the New York Stallion Stakes series) black-type stakes contest this year to be captured by a New York-bred. |
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Fly to Me wins open Sonnenberg Handicap at Finger Lakes by Matt Church
Langpap Stable's FLY TO ME responded in the late stages and proved best in today's wide-open $27,000 Sonnenberg Handicap by a half length. Ridden to victory by John R. Davila Jr and trained by Michael A. Lecesse, this was Fly to Me's second straight win. The four year old filly by Belong to Me was coming off a solid three and three-quarter length tally in the $50,000 Jack Betta Be Rite Stakes on August 25. That convincing score was at one mile and one-sixteenth. Fly to Me including today, has started seven times this year with a record of four wins, a second and $79,539 in money earned. Today's contest was an overnight handicap for fillies and mares going one mile and seventy yards. Fly to Me was assigned the highweight with 125 pounds and was the $1.60 to 1 favorite. Second highweight carrying 121 was Aaron Racing Stable's Hoosick Falls and the second choice at $2.75 to 1. Trained by Jeremiah Englehart, Hoosick Falls comes into this race with 9 career wins and $205,923 in money won. Eight rivals went to the post and all were shooting for the winners share of $16,200. Hoosick Falls and Sweet Sweet Molly broke in stride with Hoosick Falls actually getting the first quarter in 23.48. The pair continued on dictating the pace with the half mile clocked in 47.40. Fly to Me was only two lengths back in third. Hoosick Falls gave Sweet Sweet Molly the slip and reached the quarter pole in 1:12.02 and a two length cushion. Hoosick Falls looked home-free when she opened up a three length lead in midstretch over Fly to Me. Fly to Me took her time in getting to the wire, but the classy filly had Hoosick Falls measured and proved best by a half length. Sweet Sweet Molly held on for a share over the late running Watral's Dahlia. Fly to Me covered the distance over a fast track in 1:43.53 and earned $16,200. Bred by Dennis and Deborah Petrisak, the four year old daughter of Belong to Me out of Flying Nightengale by Clever Trick now has nine career wins out of 21 starts and $261,189 in money won. Also the home-bred running machine qualified for $1,620 in breeders' awards. |
||||||
|
|
||||||
Stunt Man stuns stars in open More Than
Ready by Rab Hagin
Providing a huge prestige boost to Saratoga's Albany Stakes for state-bred three-year-olds that he had won three weeks earlier, STUNT MAN captured his first open company outing by 2-1/2 lengths under co-topweight on Wednesday in Belmont's one-mile More Than Ready Stakes for three-year-olds, leaving two graded winners in his wake. The rapidly-improving gelding was the 11.60-to-1 last choice among four starters following three scratches possibly prompted by the presence of two formerly undefeated juvenile graded winners: odds-on E Z Warrior and 1.75-to-1 Tiz Wonderful -- the latter having finished third in the 2006 Juvenile Male Eclipse Award voting. Stunt Man, who was dropping back to a one-turn mile after a promising three-start late summer campaign going two turns on dirt and turf, scored by an even bigger margin than in his first stakes victory in the Albany. For more than half the race, the More Than Ready unfolded the way the wagering public expected, with heavily favored E Z Warrior leading the way and Tiz Wonderful close behind, while Stunt Man -- after breaking last with a stutter-step -- trailed the field. The New York-bred did not trail by much even in the early going, and as the tightly-bunched competitors entered Belmont's big turn, it became apparent that jockey Javier Castellano -- who was race-riding Stunt Man for the first time -- was guiding him with supreme confidence. Tiz Wonderful advanced alongside E Z Warrior to gain a brief lead, but Stunt Man rallied three-wide around those two and quickly forged to the front entering the stretch, pinning his ears at Tiz Wonderful and seizing command so suddenly that even track announcer Tom Durkin was surprised. Stunt Man covered his final quarter-mile in 23.69, pulling away from the more lightly-weighted (by five pounds) second choice, Tiz Wonderful, to register his fourth multiple-margin victory since March 30 at Aqueduct -- all under different jockeys. It was the second winning ride of the day for Castellano. Owned by Winning Move Stable (Steve and Brian Sigler), Island Wind Racing (Robert Teeman), and Celebrity Group Stables (Mitchell Klafter), Stunt Man has earned $239,678 since being claimed for $25,000 while breaking his maiden by eight lengths against state-breds at Aqueduct on March 30. The Western Expression gelding's More Than Ready victory boosted his overall bankroll to $258,016 while improving his record to 4 - 3 - 3 in 15 starts, which includes two runner-up stakes performances and two third-place stakes efforts -- one of them his turf debut in Saratoga's New York Stallion Cab Calloway. Stunt Man trains under New York Thoroughbred Breeders two-time Trainer of the Year Gary Contessa, who 12 days after the Albany had given the gelding a half-mile "bullet" workout over Saratoga's Oklahoma training track and had followed that with a moderate three-furlong drill on Sunday, September 9. Contessa, who is one of the shrewdest claiming trainers on the NYRA circuit, mentioned after the Albany that Stunt Man seems to love Saratoga. Stunt Man is the second New York-bred-and-conceived open stakes winner of 2007 that Carl Lizza Jr.'s Flying Zee Stables has bred and raced and lost through the claiming ranks, following Factual Contender ($359,298), who was claimed for $65,000 in 2006 before becoming a 2007 turf standout. Flying Zee Stables still qualifies for $12,798 in breeder and stallion owner awards as a result of the More Than Ready, since it owns Western Expression, who had five winners at the 2007 Saratoga meet and was the only sire of 2007 Saratoga stakes winners on dirt and turf. Stunt Man, who is inbred 4 x 4 to dual classic winner Majestic Prince and to five-time stakes producer Tamerett, is the fifth of six winners produced from New York-bred Ribboned, who won Finger Lakes' 1991 Niagara Stakes by six lengths while racing for Lizza's Tri-Noble Stable. Ribboned is a half-sister to Panamanian juvenile champion Mangatruco. Stunt Man is the 16th New York-bred winner of a 2007 stakes outside state-bred competition -- following graded Saranac winner Mission Approved at Saratoga just 10 days earlier -- and the 50th New York-bred to finish in the top-three in a stakes this year outside the state-bred restricted ranks. The More Than Ready was the 20th open (to horses bred anywhere, exclusive of the New York Stallion Stakes series) stakes event of 2007 to be captured by a New York-bred. |
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Oprah Winney cruises in Schenectady workout by Rab Hagin
In what amounted to a $64,020 paid six-furlong workout, Grade 2 winner OPRAH WINNEY cruised to a 3-1/4-length victory in Belmont's $104,700 Schenectady Handicap for New York-bred fillies and mares on Sunday, clocking 1:09.60 under top weight of 126 pounds -- heaviest in her career -- at odds-on (.15-to-1). Five weeks earlier, the four-year-old filly had captured Monmouth's $100,000 Regret Stakes going that same distance and by that identical margin but under two pounds less (124) in near-comparable time (1:09.35) at the track that will host her ultimate goal: the $1-million Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint. For that six-furlong championship event on Friday, October 26, Oprah Winney will only be required to carry 123 pounds. The striking roan speedster is obviously on a roll and appears to be approaching peak form. Five starters contested the Schenectady following the scratch of a recent first-out maiden winner at Saratoga, leaving Oprah Winney to face four rivals that had not hit the board in graded stakes competition. Going right for the lead with a no-holds-barred challenge was 8.10-to-1 second choice Karakorum Starlet, who though possibly more of a miler than a sprinter still managed to set an opening quarter-mile split of 22.26 with Oprah Winney -- breaking from the outside post -- a half-length back on her outside. Jockey Garrett Gomez, who was race-riding Oprah Winney for the first time, allowed his mount to seize command on the turn, where she completed the second quarter-mile split in 22.72 for a 44.98 half-mile fraction, and then hand-rode her to the wire. Last choice Scatkey (26.75-to-1) rallied for second, as Oprah Winney increased her earnings to $577,800 with her second consecutive stakes victory and sixth black-type tally overall, improving her never-worse-than-fourth record to 7 - 3 - 3 in 14 starts. Gomez seemed impressed: "She is a real professional," the jockey observed. "We drew good (outside post), and she did what we needed her to do. We weren't worried about all of them. With her carrying 126 pounds, it was important to get a good race into her and set her up for whatever he (trainer Richard Dutrow Jr.) has planned for her next." Dutrow, the New York Thoroughbred Breeders 2002 Trainer of the Year, had revealed a couple of days earlier that he wanted Gomez to become familiarized with Oprah Winney because the filly's jockey in the Regret, Edgar Prado, had broken his ankle on Saratoga's closing weekend. "If Edgar's not back by the Breeders' Cup, this is a chance to let Garrett get a feel for her," Dutrow had explained. Following the Regret on August 5, Dutrow had given Oprah Winney four workouts at Aqueduct spaced six-to-seven days apart -- three at six furlongs and concluding with a three-furlong blowout in 35-4/5 two days prior to the Schenectady. The trainer could not be more pleased with her progress: "She's been training like clockwork for three months now," Dutrow remarked. "She's really stepped it up, and everyone around the barn knows she's stepped it up. We're excited. It should be a good fall with her. "This race (the Schenectady) served its purpose," continued Dutrow following Sunday's victorious outing. "Good timing for the next race. I wanted to get her a race over the track she liked. We could've run her somewhere else for big money. All of us want to have fun on a big day, and as long as she stays this way, we have a good chance of having some fun. I know she likes Monmouth. We put the fronts (bandages) on her today because she ran down in a breeze a little bit; we just wanted to protect her today." Owned by Michael Dubb of Jericho, Long Island, Sanford Goldfarb of Old Westbury, and the Bunch of Characters Stable that is identified with Pamela Caliendo, Oprah Winney was bred by the Gatsas Thoroughbreds of brothers Michael and Theodore Gatsas of Manchester, New Hampshire -- founders of Sovereign Stable, Inc. The daughter of Royal Academy is the first of two winners produced from Mere Presence, whose dirt-and-turf-winning dam is a half-sister to a South African champion. Gatsas Thoroughbreds had purchased Mere Presence for $115,000 at the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's 2000 February select sale of two-year-olds at Calder. Oprah Winney, a 2007 Grade 2 winner at seven furlongs, has never raced beyond that distance, even though she is a granddaughter of Nijinsky II, has stamina sires Vaguely Noble and Buckpasser within four generations on her dam's side, and owns a relatively long-winded dosage profile (8-0-13-4-1). A fast early pace in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint might set her up perfectly. |
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Naughty New Yorker nails another decisive Gen. MacArthur victory by Rab Hagin Appearing to be in the best form of his career, Fox Ridge Farm's NAUGHTY NEW YORKER completed his first back-to-back win double since his juvenile season, drawing off in the stretch in Belmont's $108,800 General Douglas MacArthur Handicap for New York-breds going one-turn mile on the Big Sandy's opening-day Friday. The five-year-old horse was slightly overlooked as the 3.80-to-1 second choice among six starters because of heavy odds-on favoritism accorded to top-weighted Gold and Roses, who 36 days earlier had romped by 9-1/4 lengths in Saratoga's 6-1/2-furlong John Morrissey Stakes for state-breds. As Naughty New York stalked down the backstretch in fourth and third place with jockey Javier Castellano on board for the first time in competition, it was apparent that the riders of the top two choices were eyeing each other to see who would make the first move. Running almost abreast, the pair of five-year-olds -- both coming off dominating stakes victories at Saratoga -- overtook leader Who What Win on the turn, with Naughty New Yorker pushing his head in front to set a 1:09.76 six-furlong fraction and then looking stronger than ever down the stretch. Gold and Roses faded to fourth, but Naughty New Yorker drew off to a two-length victory in 1:34.26 -- beating his winning time in the 2006 MacArthur, when the event had its first running at a mile, by a significant second and a half to establish a new stakes record. Naughty New Yorker had registered 1:09-and-change six-furlong fractions twice before -- both times in 2005: in Aqueduct's Grade 3 Gotham Mile (in which he was placed third) and Belmont's seven-furlong Mike Lee Stakes (which he won). Jockey Castellano, who 10 months earlier had ridden MacArthur runner-up Shuffling Maddnes to an Aqueduct overnight victory but was relatively unfamiliar with the sometimes quirky Naughty New Yorker, obviously had done his homework: "I never rode him, but I watched his replays," Castellano explained. "Pat (winning trainer Patrick Kelly) told me the main thing is that he has to be comfortable. I might have moved too early, but I saw the 'seven' (Gold and Roses) go for the lead, and he was the horse to beat. I went with him to see who is best. We picked it up and he finished up good." Winning conditioner Kelly, the New York Thoroughbred Breeders 1986 Trainer of the Year who also sent out MacArthur winners in 1986 and 2006 (Naughty New Yorker), confirmed that the Fox Ridge Farm standard-bearer is on a roll: "We got him all straightened out," Kelly asserted. "We got the old 'Naughty' back. He was right there at the quarter-pole in 1:09. He just dragged Javier up there; that's what he does when he's good. I left things up to Javier. He could be a tricky horse to ride. This mile seems to suit him better, because he gets better fractions. Now, we just got to get him to win the (Empire) Classic (one-turn mile and an eighth for New York-breds at Belmont on New York Showcase Day, Saturday, October 20). I don't know if we'll get something in between or not." After winning the 2006 MacArthur under one pound less and in slower time than in Friday's renewal, Naughty New Yorker had been unplaced following an uncertain trip in the 2006 Empire Classic but three weeks later had captured Aqueduct's graded off-the-turf Red Smith Handicap at a mile and a quarter. Victory in the MacArthur -- the big bay's ninth stakes tally in four stakes-winning seasons and his second consecutive multiple-margin stakes score in 27 days -- boosted Naughty New Yorker's earnings over the $800K mark to $833,139 while improving his record to 10 - 6 - 6 in 37 starts. In his latest previous outing on August 11, the powerful five-year-old had scored his third mile and an eighth stakes victory with a seven-length romp in Saratoga's Saratoga Sunrise for state-breds, after which Kelly had given him a pair of moderate five-furlong workouts at Saratoga. Naughty New Yorker remains the only horse ever to win the shortest and longest legs of The OTBs' Big Apple Triple for state-bred three-year-olds -- having captured Belmont's seven-furlong Mike Lee Stakes and Saratoga's mile and an eighth Albany Stakes in 2005. Owned by the Fox Ridge Farm, Inc. of Peter Schiff of Syosset, who is president of the private venture and leveraged buyout firm Northwood Ventures, Naughty New Yorker was a $145,000 bargain purchase at the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's 2004 March sale of two-year-olds. The sound and multi-talented runner was bred by the husband-wife veterinarian team of Dr. William Wilmot -- a member of the board of directors of the New York State Thoroughbred Breeding and Development Fund Corporation -- and Dr. Joan Taylor and was foaled at his b reeders' Stepwise Farm in Saratoga Springs. He is a half-brother to stakes-winning filly router and Grade 2-placed Pupil ($204,280), being the third of four winners produced from Naughty Natisha. Stepwise Farm had purchased Naughty Natisha -- who is a half-sister to stakes winners Victorica ($293,067 and dam of Irish stakes winner King Hesperus) and Noble Minstrel ($133,033) -- for $150,000 at Keeneland's 1998 November sale when the future multiple stakes producer was carrying Pupil as her first foal. |
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Law Enforcement and By the Light both romp at odds-on in Aspirant and Lady Finger Stakes by Matt Church
Camelia Casby's LAW ENFORCEMENT overpowered pacesetter Piquante Cat in upper stretch and drew off as much the best to take the 33rd running of the $138,225 Aspirant Stakes by seven and one-half lengths. Ridden to victory by Alan Garcia, Law Enforcement was listed at 5 to 1 by track odds maker Carl Anderson but when it was all said and done the Mark A. Hennig trained monster returned $3.00. Law Enforcement was coming off a convincing going away three length tally in his debut on July 20 at Belmont Park. Sent off at $6.60 to 1 in that five and one-half furlong dash. With Alan Garcia up, Law Enforcement vied for lead to the top of the lane and drew clear while stopping the timer for the distance over a fast track in a very quick 1:02.53. Today's test was restricted to two year olds bred in the state of New York going six furlongs. Ten rivals were set to go with Law Enforcement the 1 to 2 odds on favorite and rightly so. Gold Square's Spanky Fischbein was the next choice among the 3,625 on hand celebrating Labor Day at $4.40 to 1. Trained by Todd A. Pletcher, Spanky Fischbein was another juvenile in this salty test that scored at first asking. Spanky Fischbein got the money in a wire-to-wire fashion going five and one-half furlongs in 1:05 flat on June 15 and Belmont Park. The juvenile by Hook and Ladder ran in the $60,000 Tyro Stakes at Monmouth Park where he was let go at $2.00 to 1 and finished a very respectable runner-up beaten only a length and one-half. Piquante Cat the third choice at 5.20 to 1, was sent to the Bill Daily by jockey Paul Nicol Jr and they got the opening quarter in a very swift 21.81 and a four length cushion over Spanky Fischbein, Midnight Summer and Law Enforcement. The half went down in 45 flat with Law Enforcement gaining with every stride. Law Enforcement ran on by Piquante Cat in upper stretch and reached the eighth pole with a widening two length lead. Alan Garcia never asked Law Enforcement and in a hand ride drew off to score by seven and one-half lengths. Spanky Fischbein finished second best by almost five lengths over Piquante Cat in third. The undefeated Law Enforcement covered the six furlong distance over a fast track in 1:10.09 and earned $82,935. Bred by her owner, the two year old son of Posse out of Zambezi Bell by Lord at War now has two wins out of only two starts and $110,535 in money won. Also the home-bred running machine qualified for $8,293 in breeders' awards.
Jay Em Ess Stable's BY THE LIGHT shipped in here from Belmont Park and drew off to take today's $137,825 Lady Finger Stakes by five and one-quarter lengths. Ridden to victory by local jockey John A. Grabowski, By the Light won for fun in her debut at Belmont Park on July 11 by just over six lengths. That overpowering score was at five and one-half furlongs that went down over a fast track in 1:05.26. Today's contest was restricted to juvenile fillies bred in the state of New York and was contested at six furlongs. Seven rivals went to the post with By the Light the odds on choice at 1 to 4. Next in line at the windows was Obviously NY Stable's Canadian Ballet at $3.30 to 1. Trained by Linda Rice, Canadian Ballet proved best in her debut at Saratoga going five furlongs by a length and one-half. Canadian Ballet was ridden by C H Velasquez with the five furlong dash clocked in 1:00.15. Today with John R. Davila in the saddle, Canadian Ballet broke suddenly and quickly put a length on By the Light with the opening quarter clocked in 22.30. Davila got his mount to extend her lead by two and one-half lengths with the half mile going in a very quick 45.69. By the Light was still stalking with Devi a length back in third. By the Light was let loose by Grabowski and the pair collared Canadian Ballet in gear with a furlong remaining. By the Light took the lead with authority and went on to score by a convincing five and one-quarter lengths. Canadian Belle lasted for the place by a half length over Beam of Love in third. By the Light covered the distance over a fast track in 1:11.10 and earned a cool $82,695. Bred by Paul Rothfuss, the two year old daughter of Malibu Moon out of Dixie Tempo by Major Impact now has two career wins out only two tries and a whopping $110,295 in money won. Also the undefeated juvenile qualified for $8,269 in breeders' awards. |
||||||
|
|
||||||
|
Mission Approved steals G3 Saranac as NY-breds run 1-3 in thriller by Rab Hagin
With one New York-bred leading throughout and the other advancing from last among 11, state-breds MISSION APPROVED and Pays to Dream finished first and third, respectively, in Saratoga's Grade 3 Saranac Stakes for three-year-olds going a mile and three-sixteenths on turf on Labor Day eve Sunday. It was the first graded stakes outing for both Empire State homebreds, and their odds of 34-to-1 (ninth choice winner Mission Approved) and 13.80-to-1 (sixth choice third-place finisher Pays to Dream) helped produce easily the biggest $2 trifecta payoff ($2,896.00) on Saratoga's Sunday card. For Dr. William Coyro Jr.'s homebred Mission Approved, an easy early lead was available for the taking, and the bay colt's rider in his last four outings, New York Thoroughbred Breeders (NYTB) 2006 Jockey of the Year Eibar Coa, seized the opportunity. No rival got to within Mission Approved's throatlatch thereafter. The first two quarters went in tepid splits of 24.30 and 24.93 before it dawned on everyone that caution was being overplayed, at which point Mission Approved accelerated to splits of 23.44 and 23.56, gaining a two-length mid-stretch advantage that favored Distorted Reality could not overcome. Mission Approved covered his final three-sixteenths in 17.58 (averaging 5.86 per sixteenth), meaning that one of those sixteenths was probably the fastest in the entire race, putting the New York-bred at the wire in 1:53.81 -- fastest Saranac in eight years. Pays to Dream, who had been pinched back at the start and steadied on the first turn, was last with less than a half-mile to run but closed to within a length and a half of Mission Approved, whom he had beaten while winning Saratoga's Glow Stakes 29 days earlier. Coa acknowledged there was no preconceived intention to go to the front, even though Mission Approved had done just that while winning an entry-level allowance mile on Belmont's main track in May: "It wasn't our plan to take the lead, but it worked out that way," Coa remarked. "When we took the lead and no one was going after us, I wanted to see how this was going to work. After the half-mile, I knew we were going easy. The question was if he would have enough in the end." Winning conditioner Gary Contessa, the NYTB 2004 and 2006 Trainer of the Year, agreed: "I left it up to (Eibar) Coa," Contessa confirmed. "He never had it so easy on the lead. Today, they just let him (Mission Approved) go out there and steal it, and he's a New York-bred, too. It's a beautiful thing! "In the Lexington ($106,000 turf stakes for three-year-olds going a mile and an eighth at Belmont on July 8, in which Mission Approved had tired to finish last), he was bad in the paddock and washed out," Contessa continued. "Today, he came out of the paddock high, but we had schooled him. The farther he goes, the faster he gets. He's a big, good-looking, big striding horse." Coa, who has ridden Saranac winners for two years in a row, had two winning rides on Saratoga's Sunday card -- both aboard front-running New York-bred colts. Mission Approved is the first New York-bred Saranac winner since the filly Casa Eire captured the event in 1994 when it was a mile on turf at Belmont; New York-bred national pre-Eclipse champion Silent Screen won the 1970 Saranac on Belmont's main track. Mission Approved, whose record improved to 4 - 1 - 1 in eight starts with earnings of $165,332, and December Hill Farm's homebred Pays to Dream, who is now 4 - 1 - 2 in 10 starts with earnings of $155,635, qualified their owner-breeders for an additional $16,100 in owner and breeder awards. The owner-breeder of Mission Approved, Dr. Coyro of Grosse Points Park, Michigan, also bred 2002 Mike Lee Stakes winner No Parole ($502,701). Dr. Coyro had purchased Mission Approved's dam, two-time dirt route winner Fortunate Find, for $27,000 as a two-year-old in training at the Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's 1997 June sale of juveniles. Mission Approved is the 15th New York-bred winner of a 2007 stakes outside state-bred company and the 48th state-bred to finish in the top-three in a 2007 stakes event outside state-bred competition -- following New York-bred third-place stakes finishers at Woodbine earlier on Sunday and at Saratoga on Friday, August 31. Jesse's Justice surges late to capture Irish Actress by Rab Hagin
Bred to run all day but now two-for-two in turf mile contests at Saratoga, Lawrence Goichman's homebred JESSE'S JUSTICE angled five-wide in the upper stretch in the Spa's Irish Actress Stakes for New York-bred three-year-old fillies on Sunday and overtook four rivals to score her first stakes victory. The improving bay filly had won a restricted N2X Saratoga allowance/optional claiming contest for state-bred fillies and mares going a mile on grass 34 days earlier and was favored at 1.95-to-1 among 10 starters to register her fourth tally in five starts since Memorial Day eve. With her apparent favorite jockey, two-time Eclipse Award winner John Velazquez, on board for the third time in competition, Jesse's Justice tracked in fifth place before surging with authority to increase her earnings to $165,475 in eight starts. It was her third victory under Velazquez in three outings with that jockey in the irons. Top-weighted fourth choice Tishmeister ($183,526), who had captured Saratoga's $150,000 New York Stallion Statue of Liberty Stakes at a mile and an eighth on grass 24 days earlier, briefly led inside the final furlong before giving way grudgingly to finish a half-length behind the winner. Trained by three-time Eclipse Award winner Todd Pletcher, who had given her two moderate half-mile workouts on Belmont's training track on August 20 and 27, Jesse's Justice is another New York-bred stakes winner bred by Goichman, of Greenwich, Connecticut, from a privately-acquired mare with European bloodlines. Others include Goichman's 2007 graded turf winner, J'ray ($440,669), and multiple Grade 2 winner (and New York-based stallion) Read the Footnotes ($450,660). Goichman is in the computer and technology equipment leasing business. Victory in the Irish Actress -- named for Austin Delaney's homebred NYTB Turf Female Champion of 1991, 1992, and 1993 -- improved the record for Jesse's Justice to four wins and three seconds in eight starts (all since February), of which seven outings have been on grass. The filly's only off-the-board finish was in Belmont's Crockadore Stakes for state-bred three-year-old fillies going a mile and a sixteenth over less-than-firm ("good") Belmont turf on July 7; she had placed a close second in a sloppy track off-the-turf Aqueduct maiden special in April. Jesse's Justice is the second stakes winner bred by Goichman from the Chief's Crown mare My Reem, being a half-sister to Saratoga-Aqueduct turf stakes winner and graded runner-up Willard Straight ($302,029). With an unusual (by contemporary North American standards) dosage profile of 2-5-19-2-6, the daughter of Lear Fan theoretically appears to have no distance limitations. Her New York-bred two-year-old half-sister, Mistress Greeley, was sold for $250,000 at Fasig-Tipton Florida's 2007 March sale of two-year-olds in training at Calder after having been a $170,000 "reserve not attained" sales yearling at Keeneland the previous September. Dam My Reem is a half-sister to English multiple black-type stakes winner Knoosh and to the stakes-placed dam of an 11-time-winning multiple stakes winner in Denmark. Talking Treasure romps in $75,000 New York Oaks by Matt Church
Kenneth L. and Sarah K. Ramsey's TALKING TREASURE made it look easy when she romped home in today's $75,000 New York Oaks by a comfortable eleven lengths. Talking Treasure was coming off a half length decision in a $80,000 overnight Stakes on August 9 at seven furlongs at Saratoga. Prior to that race, Talking Treasure competed here on July 4 in the $50,000 Niagara Stakes at six furlongs. In that test, the Charlton Baker trainee, tracked the winner Cool Pradigm to the line but missed by just over three lengths. So for this year including today's romp in the park, Talking Treasure has five wins, three seconds out of only nine tries and a whopping $252,108 in the bank. Today's $75,000 New York Oaks was restricted to three year old fillies bred in the state of New York going one mile and one-sixteenth. Five rivals went to the starting gate with Talking Treasure the 4 to 5 choice. Also taking money at $1.70 to 1 was Camellia J. Casby's Laurentide Ice. Trained by Mark A. Hennig, Laurentide Ice last raced in the $150,000 New York Stallion Stakes on August 9 at the Spa. That was at one mile and one-eighth over the grass. Sent off as the $2.05 to 1 choice, Laurentide Ice broke through the gate before the start and that was the closest she ever got to the lead. The Hennig trained runner has started five times this year with a win a third and $56,314 in money earned. Talking Treasure with Robert Messina in the saddle, broke on top and never looked back to win in hand by eleven and one-quarter lengths. Talking Treasure set fractions of 23.76 for the quarter, got the half mile in 47.32 and then stopped the timer for the three-quarters in 1:11.58. Talking Treasure got the distance in 144.09 with My Kitty finishing four and three-quarter lengths over Laurentide Ice in third. Talking Treasure's walk in the park was worth $45,000. Bred by her owners, the three year old daughter of Catienus out of Annual Dues by Devil His due now has five career wins out of only nine starts and $252,108 in money won. Also the home-bred runner qualified for $9,000 in breeders' awards. |
||||||
|
For all previous Racing Front News, see Archives |
